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Accent on Singing in Coming Jazz at Lincoln Center Season

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2015-16 season, with the theme “Jazz and American Song,” will feature a sustained emphasis on vocal music in the blues, jazz and pop traditions.

The programming also includes concerts by bandleaders presenting new works, retrospectives, or re-arrangements of classic repertory. Among them are Fred Hersch, Charles Lloyd, Bill Charlap and Joe Lovano; the rising talents Cécile McLorin Salvant and Aaron Diehl; and Wynton Marsalis, the organization’s artistic director, who will present the premiere of a new piece for music and dancers.

Among the highlights of the Rose Theater concerts featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is one dedicated to songs in popular music since the 1960s — the era after the jazz standard — including songs by Donny Hathaway (Jan. 15-16). There will also be programs built around the work of Miles Davis (May 12-14) and Billy Strayhorn, with the veteran singer-pianist Johnny O’Neal as a guest (June 10-11). Also at Rose, the pianist Monty Alexander and singer Kurt Elling headline a program about the work of Frank Sinatra (Feb. 12-13).

Among concerts at the Appel Room, Mr. Hersch will lead an ensemble including the clarinetist Anat Cohen and vibraphonist Stefon Harris (Jan. 15-16); the theater singer Adriane Lenox and pianist Chris Pattishall will direct a program of songs introduced in movies by Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney and Ethel Waters (Dec. 18-19); and Mr. Lloyd will collaborate in a group with the guitarist Bill Frisell (Jan. 29-30).

The rock guitarist Steve Miller explores the blues, from Ma Rainey to Davis (April 8-9). The singer Michael Feinstein presents two programs of American popular song (April 13-14 and May 11-12). And the saxophonist Mr. Lovano performs the spiritual music of John Coltrane (May 13-14).

Mr. Marsalis’s new work, “Spaces,” explores human and animal movement through music and dance, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the dancers Lil Buck and Jared Grimes. Schedules and ticket information can be found at jazz.org.

A version of this article appears in print on 02/24/2015, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Accent on Song in Jazz Season.